Paul begins his addendum with a reminder that as a “pro-life OB/GYN who has delivered over 4,000 babies, I have always opposed abortion. Let me be very clear: life begins at conception. It is the duty of the government to protect life, as set forth in our founding documents.”
But he adds that as a strict constitutionalist he is compelled to stand by America’s chief governing document, “even when doing so is hard and forces me to stand alone.” He notes that the fight to protect the unborn is just such an instance. “Both this pledge and the pro-life issue itself require some careful thought from my fellow pro-lifers so we can avoid the trap of throwing out the Constitution in our effort to save lives,” he explains. “Just as we cannot have liberty without life, I believe the opposite is also true: we must keep the Constitution and liberty in mind when fighting for the rights of the unborn. Otherwise, we undermine the entire system our Founders put their lives on the line to create in order to protect life and liberty.”
Calling the passage of a Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution a “laudable goal,” Paul goes on to qualify what he believes is the constitutional role of the federal government in protecting life. “I believe Roe v. Wade should be repealed,” he says. “I believe federal law should declare that life begins at conception.” But, he emphasizes, “I believe states should regulate the enforcement of this law, as they do other laws against violence.”
Addressing the equal protection clause that pro-life advocates site for federal muscle in protecting the unborn, Paul notes that the “Fourteenth Amendment was never intended to cancel out the Tenth Amendment. This means that I can’t agree that the Fourteenth Amendment has a role to play here, or otherwise we would end up with a ‘Federal Department of Abortion.’ Does anyone believe that will help life?”
Paul exhorts that we “should allow our republican system of government to function as our Founders designed it to: protect rights at the federal level, enforce laws against violence at the state level.”